Asylum granted to woman fleeing Salvadoran gangs

It’s difficult for those fleeing gang-related violence in Latin America to get asylum in the U.S., as explained in this story from earlier in the year.

But Bender’s Immigration Bulletin today has a similar story about a woman fleeing violence in El Salvador getting asylum from an immigration judge in Virginia. In order to obtain asylum — or withholding of removal — an applicant has to prove risk of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. The gist of the Virginia ruling is the applicant was being persecuted because she was the family member of a police officer.

The details of the case are, of course, disturbing. The woman, whose name is redacted, was married to a police officer who worked undercover investigating gangs and worked as a nurse at a hospital where she often treated gang members. Threats against the couple escalated to home invasions, and eventually the rape of her sister-in-law in 1997, according to the judge’s ruling. Over the next several years, despite the family moving, the threats continued. The couple’s dog was poisoned and they received a threat that the same would happen to their baby.

After another home invasion in 2005, the woman fled to the U.S. and applied for asylum. She hasn’t heard from her husband since 2007, according to the ruling. The judge granted asylum in August. Also in August an immigration judge in El Paso granted asylum to a Mexican cameraman fleeing drug cartels. Here’s the story.